


Hooked on a Feeling

by riphedwig



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Disney - All Media Types, Peter Pan & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Mention of Character Death, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Relationship, Peter Pan - Freeform, Unrequited Love, ben is a baby, child of tinker bell meets child of hook, mal is still annoying, not major, tinker bell - Freeform, uma likes messing with people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-08 21:41:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11655285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riphedwig/pseuds/riphedwig
Summary: The daughter of a certain pixie comes back to Auradon Prep the same time Harry Hook and his friends come from the Isle.  She's going to need a bit more than faith, trust, and pixie dust to get through this year.





	1. Chapter 1

Tilly gracefully landed on the ground of Auradon Prep as she took in the giant school in front of her.   
It had been a while since she had been at Auradon, last year she spent her sophomore year at Neverland Academy. Mostly because she was dating the Prince to be King and then all of a sudden, she wasn’t. Audrey swooped in and wooed him right from her nose. Easy to say it wasn’t a nice break up and Tilly just thought it would be best for everyone if she took a break from Auradon. So she flew back home to spend time with her adopted father, who still had a lot of growing up to do, Peter Pan. 

“Oh my gosh! Tilly! You’re back!” Jane ran up to her and engulfed the girl in a hug. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back? Oh my gosh, my mom is gonna flip!”

Tilly wrapped her arms around Jane and gave her a big hug, “I missed you too J” she said with a light laugh. “Also, I’m pretty sure your mom already knows.” 

Jane laughed and shook her head, “Oh right.” They held hands and just stood and stared at each other trying to take the other in. Then someone cleared their throat and Jane was brought out of her stupor. “Oh! Tilly, this is Carlos! Carlos this is my best friend in the entire world, Tilly Bell.”

Carlos smiled and waved, “Nice to meet you!” 

“Carlos? Oh! You’re from the Isle!” she said, then realized how rude she sounded and quickly tried to correct herself, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that as a bad thing. I just..”  
“It’s fine, really. I don’t mind being known as one of the kids from the isle. It’s home, as bad as it is, it’s home.” He said, with a smile. Tilly relaxed at that, thankful he was so understanding.

“There are more right? Your friends came with you?” She said, just hearing about the new program through the grapevine. 

“Yeah! We were actually on our way to see them if you wanted to come!” Carlos told her. She smiled and walked with them, catching up with Jane about what happened here while she was gone. 

“Hey Guys!” Carlos called out to his friends as they stood in front of the Beast statue with Ben.

“Tilly!” Ben said, seemingly caught off guard. “You’re here. You’re back!” he said. The girl with purple hair looked at Ben strangely then over at Tilly clearly sizing her up.

“Yup!” she answered slightly confused, “You signed my transfer papers, remember? And you wrote me that really nice letter?” Ben nodded slowly. “Did I read into that wrong?”

Before Ben could answer a hand was thrust into her view, “Hi. I’m Mal. Ben’s girlfriend.” She said, a fake smile clearly plastered onto her face.

Tilly’s face lit up with a genuine smile, “Oh Hi!” she took Mal’s hand and shook it lightly. When Mal took her hand away, she dusted of the glitter. “Oh, sorry that happens sometimes.” She smiled sheepishly. “I’m so excited to meet you! Ben gushed about you in his letter, and I’ve never heard him talk about anyone like that, not me or Audrey. So, he is clearly happy, which means I’m happy. For both of you.” She finished. Mal nodded slowly trying to wrap her mind around what she was saying.

“Oh, sorry did he not tell you? We used to date, back before Audrey, but I thought we were friends now. I have moved on and he certainly has to.” She looked to Ben then for some explanation.

“We are friends! Definitely friends!” Ben said, overly enthusiastic. 

“Right, so why are you staring at me like that?” She asked, looking at Ben then around to the rest of the group.

The girl with the blue hair stuck her hand out quickly, “I’m Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen.” She said as they shook hands. 

The tall boy stuck his hand out then too, “Jay, son of Jafar” She shook his hand out too. 

“Tilly, Tilly Bell. Daughter of-“ She was interrupted when Mal finished her sentence. 

“Daughter of Tinker Bell?” to which Tilly nodded enthusiastically. “One of the only living faires left in all the realms!” she said with a light laugh.

“Yeah not for long” Jay said under his breath to Carlos who elbowed him back. 

Mal smiled at Tilly awkwardly, “Why don’t we go inside?” 

“Oh no, we can wait! Jane said we’re getting more Isle kids! Don’t you want to greet your friends?” Tilly asked looking down the road to see the limo pulling onto the grounds.  
“Oh I wouldn’t call them friends.” Mal deadpanned and looked to Ben for help.

“Tilly, why don’t you go get settled in your room again?” he offered, and she looked around at all of them and their awkward stares back.

“What’s going on? Why are you trying to get rid of me? Is it still awkward? If it is, I completely understand and I’m sorry for stepping over any lines. I-I” She started but Ben shushed her.

“Tilly, we are friends and you aren’t crossing any lines or anything, trust me. I just think it would be best if maybe you weren’t part of the welcoming committee for this group.” He informed her.

She looked back as the stretch limo pulled onto the campus grounds. She then looked back at Ben who looked at her, almost scared.   
“He’s coming, isn’t he.” She responded. Ben looked down as he nodded, clearly ashamed. Tilly took in a deep breath, fighting back tears. “You know, it’s fine. It’s okay” she said, fighting hard to keep her tears at bay but failing as they slid down her cheeks. 

“Tilly, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think it all through and after everything that happened at the end of last year…” he trailed off as he watched her cry. 

“Ben, it’s okay really. Everyone deserves a second chance.” She told him nodding still trying to convince herself a bit too. She heard the car pull up behind her and she looked to Jane who nodded and held her hand out. “I’ll see you guys later” she said, taking Jane’s hand and walking away.

Behind her the car door opened, “Ah, just pulled in and I’m already making people run away in tears!” Harry boasted as he stepped out of the car. 

Everyone glared at him then and Ben and Carlos even growled. Harry put him his hand and hook defensively, “What, I was just kidding!” Behind him came Uma, Gil, and Dizzy.  
The core four showed the new four around Auradon, one of them always keeping an eye out for Tilly just as a precaution. Then they all went to their dorms and prepared for their first day of school the next day.


	2. Chapter 2

Tilly was able to room with Jane again which made her incredibly happy. She needed her best friend close by if she was going to have to spend the year with the likes of Harry Hook. Jane invited some of the other girls over to hang out before they turned into bed for the night and it really helped take Tilly’s mind off of everything. So much so that when she woke up the next morning she didn’t even think about it. Instead she had to worry about what outfit she was going to wear. Jane filled her in on how Evie replaced her as the newest fashion icon and knew she had tough, but friendly, competition now. 

She decided with a white lace off the shoulder long sleeved top that frayed out at the wrists, with a pair of high waisted pale green jeans and a pair of clear two strap heels. She had on a gold choker and her platinum blonde hair was in loose double braids. She picked up the books she needed for class today and walked out of the room with Jane.   
Throughout the hall way people whispered as she walked by, some of the people she was friends with before she left called out to her and stopped to talk for a little bit before class.

“They’re all staring.” She said quietly to Jane.

“It’s just because you’ve been gone for a year and you somehow came back even prettier than before you left.” Jane told her.

“Prettier? The only one that has gotten prettier is you. You’re stunning, I love what you did to your hair, and I don’t know what is it but you’re just more…you now. I like it” Tilly told her with a smile. 

“Thank you.” Jane said, happy that her friend thought of her in such a nice way. 

“I feel like I should address it, just say something but I don’t know what to say. Hey everyone, the son of the man who murdered my mother and was the reason the villains were all banned to an island is here at our school now and I’m totally cool with it?” she mocked.

“But I’m not cool with it, well I am. I can’t hate him for something his father did, but it’s just…” Tilly couldn’t think of the word.

“It’s weird. It’s totally and completely weird.” Jane finished for her. Tilly nodded and took a deep breath.

“I don’t know what to do if I see him.” She said, her eyes wide as she looked at Jane. 

“You don’t do anything, you act as if he is just another student here and you just keep moving. That’s all.” Jane gave her friends arm a reassuring squeeze. “Now can we keep walking, my mom will have my head if I’m late on the first day” Tilly laughed and looped her arm around Jane’s as they walked to class together. 

Ben caught up with her as she walked to her second class, sadly this one she didn’t have with Jane. 

“Til, Til wait up!” Ben called and Tilly slowed down in response and waited for him to catch up.

“Hey Ben! What’s up?” She asked, smiling up at him.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry. When I saw you again I panicked and I should have warned you right away, I should have told you as soon as I knew and I didn’t. And you deserve more and better than that, I’m sorry.” Ben told her sincerely.

Tilly laughed lightly, “Ben, it’s okay. You’re a King now, you have a lot on your plate. A lot more important things than telling your ex-girlfriend that the son of Captain Hook is coming to Auradon to live a better life. He’s here for a second chance, and he can’t get that if he doesn’t have someone on his team. You were there for Mal and her friends, you helped them become good people. Now, I’m not going to volunteer to be that person for them but I’m not going to stop anyone who wants to be. I can’t be mad at him for something he didn’t have any control over, his father made his mistakes and I’m not going to hold Harry accountable for them. That just isn’t fair.” She told him, proud of herself for being so strong. 

“You Tilly Bell are probably the nicest person I have ever met” He responded.

“That makes sense I guess, because you can’t really meet yourself” She teased. Ben wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked with her. 

“If you need anything, please don’t hesitate. I’m here for you.” He told her, squeezing her shoulder lightly. 

“Thanks Ben, I appreciate it” she leaned her head into his shoulder. “I missed this, I missed us” she revealed and Ben slowed to a stop. But before he could say anything Tilly spoke again, “I don’t mean that in an I want you back kind of way, but in a I’m glad we are friends again kind of way.” She told him, looking up at him to find him smiling. “Before everything that happened, before we even started dating we were best friends, and then we were dating and we were still friends but we stopped talking to each other like friends and it became about other things and we lost us. And then Audrey happened, and honestly, I can’t really blame you. She liked talking about you become King and your kingly duties. She prepared you for that in a way I never could have. It hurt, a lot, but you needed that. It took a year at another school back in Neverland to figure that out. When you wrote me that letter I have to admit that I was happy you said you and Audrey had broken up, but I was even happier to see you found Mal. But in that letter I could tell it was you, the old you I first became friends with and that made me the happiest of all.” Ben hugged her then, almost able to wrap his arms around her twice. 

“I missed us too Til, I’m glad you’re back” He said, quietly.

Mal and the core four sat at a table outside picking at their food, Mal was staring over at Tilly who was standing talking to a bunch of kids sitting at a table nearby.  
“Mal? Mal?” Evie sighed and slammed her book down on the table, which made Mal snap back to reality. “What’s wrong?” Evie asked, following her gaze over to Tilly but looking back at Mal.

“What? Nothing. Nothing is wrong” Mal said, shrugging it off and picking up her sandwich.

“You were just glaring at Tilly, something has to be wrong.” Jay spoke up through a mouth full of food.

“She just looks so perfect” Mal mumbled, she wasn’t usually one to be self-conscious but knowing that Ben had once dated Tilly who looked like walking perfection and was rumored to be the nicest person in all the realms it was a bit much to compete with.

“Her outfit is incredibly cute” Evie mumbled back, she was no stranger to a lack of self-confidence. 

“Would you two cut it out, you are both beautiful, smart, amazing girls and shouldn’t be comparing yourself to others.” Carlos stated before eating his food. 

Suddenly though Tilly was walking over to their table with her tray of food, “Hi Guys! Mind if I sit?” She asked, with a wide smile. Jay eagerly moved over so she could sit next to him and she did. 

“How’s everyone’s first day of class going?” She asked, stirring the pudding cup on her tray.

They all went around exchanging first day stories for a bit until Tilly changed the topic. “Hey Mal, who did your hair when you were blonde? I thought you looked so cute and was thinking of doing the same thing but green instead of purple.” She asked politely.

Mal blinked a few times before saying, “It was a spell” 

Tilly’s eyes went wide, “Oh! Why didn’t I think of that!” she then pulled out her braids releasing her long beachy waves and then just tapped her finger in the air, glitter poofed out and then suddenly the tips of her hair were a pale green, almost matching her pants.

“Woah!” Carlos exclaimed as he watched it happen.

“You can do magic?” Evie asked, excited!

Tilly nodded, “Yeah, I’m a fairy. So, I use pixie dust which is basically magic powder, and then I also can fly and shrink down to regular fairy size.”

Jay looked at her excited, “You can fly!”

“Yeah! I have wings, but they’re compressed right now. When I’m full size they like mold into my back. If you look close enough you can see them it kind of just looks like a tattoo   
but white” she said pointing to her back

“That’s so cool” Jay said, leaning back to try to see them.   
Mal just watched her, up until now she was the only one who could do magic and the magic she could do was currently locked up in the museum. “Why are you allowed to do magic?” Mal asked.

“Here, I have to take a class with the Fairy God Mother so I know how to use it properly and all that stuff, but back home in Neverland I can use it any time I want!” She responded. “But I think the only reason I’m allowed is because Fairy God Mother is training me to take over her job in the future.” Tilly shrugged. 

Mal nodded slowly, just a bit jealous that Tilly could use magic but she couldn’t. 

“Well, I’m going to head to my next class early! I haven’t seen Coach Boomer in forever!” she said excitedly. Before she left she slid her uneaten tray towards the boys, picking up the apple instead and taking a bite before walking away with a wave.

“I think I’m in love with her” Jay said, stealing the pudding cup before Carlos could.

“You love anything that smiles at you” Mal snipped and grabbed her books to get up. 

Her heels clicked down the hallway as she walked since she was the only on there, or so she thought. 

“That’s the one I saw snuggling up with Ben” Harry whispered from their position in an empty classroom.

Uma watched her go by, “Are you sure it was her?”

“She’s really pretty” Gil said, watching her intently.

“Positive” Harry replied while glaring at Gil.

“This revenge on Mal thing is going to be a lot easier than I thought” Uma said mischievously. She then pulled open the door drug her goons out with her. 

“Um, excuse me?” Uma called before the girl could get to far. The blonde stopped and turned around to face them, although her face paled immediately, and they all had to hide   
the smirks that threatened to fall onto their faces.

“Could you help us? We’re new here and we’re a bit lost” Uma said, lifting her hands in a shrugging motion. 

Tilly took a deep breath and looked at the girl and the boy on her left, purposefully avoiding the stare of the boy on the girls right. “Um, yeah. Where are you looking to go?” She asked, her eyes trained on the girl.

Uma stuttered a bit, not having thought that far in advanced, thankfully Harry jumped in. “The gymnasium? Seems we have P.E. next” he drawled. He noticed that she didn’t look at him and his ego puffed up a bit.

“Oh, well that’s where I’m headed so you can just…follow me” She hesitated a bit before finishing her sentence. 

“Oh, that would be perfect!” she said, walking to close the distance between them. “I’m Uma by the way and this is Gil and Harry” she said pointing to the boys respectively. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Tilly” she told them and began to walk in the direction of the gym. Thankfully it was just down the hall and to the left. “Are you guys enjoying your first day   
so far?” She asked a bit quietly.

“Loving it, it’s so much better than being on the Isle” Uma responded, her voice and answer both equally fake.

“I’ve learned so much already” Harry tacked onto the fun.

“You’re pretty, I mean it’s pretty.” Gil attempted to talk again but his friends glared at him instead.

“Well, that’s good. I’m glad you all feel welcome” she said, turning towards the left. She arrived at the door to the gym and checked her bag. “Shoot, I forgot my uniform.” She then looked up to find Uma staring at her with a confused expression. “Did Ben not get you a uniform?” she asked. 

Uma shook her head, “I have an extra you can borrow, I’ll just run and grab it. Coach Boomer has extra for the boys, if you just go in and ask.” She said pointing to his office.

Harry suddenly grabbed her hand making her jump and her breath hitch, he smiled wickedly in response but it just came across as a charming smile, “Thank you” he said, kissing her knuckles. She nodded quickly and stepped back, looking at Uma then. “I’ll be right back” she then turned on her heels and quickly walked towards the dorms.

Once she was out of earshot Uma spun on Harry and smacked his arm, “What was that called!” she screeched.

“What! She was pretty!” Harry defended with his hands raised, Uma looked at his hand then and grabbed it to closer inspect it.

“Is that, glitter?” She asked looking at is closer. Harry snatched it away and looked at his hand himself.

“That ain’t glitter, mate. It’s pixie dust” he replied, his eyes wild. Then his face fell as he realized what that meant. “She wasn’t scared of us” he said out loud.

“What are you talking about, she was trembling the whole time.” Uma stared at him confused.

“She was scared of me” he told her.

“Don’t get cocky now” 

“She’s a fairy, there are only two fairies left in all the realms. Fairy God Mother and…” Uma cut him off.

“The daughter of Tinker Bell.” 

“We can’t do anything to her. We can get back at Mal all we want, but we have to leave her out of this” Harry rushed out.

“What?” Uma stood to her full height, “Harry, Peter Pan and Tinker Bell were the sworn enemies of your father. You have a Bell right here at Auradon and you want to leave her   
alone? What kind of villain are you?”

“My father killed her mother! My father is the reason the Isle exists in the first place. Let’s be real it already sucks there enough, at least here we have a bit more freedom. I for one, would like to keep it that way and not make it worse for us.”

Uma shook her head in disbelief at her first mate. “Uma, do you want to go back to doing the dishes for your mother? At least out here we can do what we want, when we want. No parents yelling at us, no limitations to what we can do. The second we do anything to that girl it all goes away, all of it. I’m not risking that.” He said, turning around and walking away. 

“Fine, Gil it looks like it’s just the two of us.” Uma said.

The rest of P.E. went on pretty smoothly, the boys and girls were separated and had to take their physical tests so she was able to avoid Harry for the whole class period.


	3. Chapter 3

Tilly unlocked her door and practically dragged herself to her bed and flopped down. “Don’t get mad but my mom wants to see you” Jane said from her perch on her bed.

Tilly turned her head to look at Jane and let out a sigh, “Right now?” she asked already knowing the answer. Jane simply nodded.

“Are you alright?”

“I saw him.” She said, pushing herself up into a sitting position. “Him and his friends got lost and I walked them to the gym. He kissed my hand and said thank you, I don’t think he knew who I was.” She explained quietly.

Jane got off her bed and walked to sit next to Tilly, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. “I’m sorry, this must be hard for you” she said quietly.

“I was terrified, just waiting for him to strike or something but it never came. He was charming, and” she paused struggling to find the right word. “kind of cute.” She ended, cringing as she did so.

Jane pulled back and looked at her friend, “You did not just call him cute!”

Tilly shrugged, “I would never act on it, cause that would just be” she paused again

“Horrible!” Jane added.

“Horrible! But he has a nice face. I’m allowed to say that! Ben has a nice face too, but I’m not acting on that either!” Tilly defended.

Jane just shook her head at her friend, “You’re going to be late for your meeting with my mom” she said as she sat back down on her bed.

Tilly knocked lightly on the door to the Fairy God Mother’s office and upon hearing a response opened the door. Ben was sitting across the desk from the Fairy God Mother and they both smiled at her when she came in.

“Tilly, it’s so nice to see you again!” Fairy God Mother said pointing to the open seat.

“Likewise!” she responded, and sat in the open chair next to Ben.

“We want to bring back the Princess Pageant!” Ben practically yelled out, clearly excited. Tilly smiled back at him trying to show her enthusiasm as well but was also slightly confused.

“Ben here jumped the cannon a bit” Fairy God Mother chuckled, “We wanted to ask if you would help bring the Pageant back.” She explained. “It was a competition and at the end the winner would be crowned Miss Auradon. It consists of talent, formal wear, and question rounds and we would have judges come in. It’s a ton of fun, but we had it back when I came to school here and it was quite the deal!” She said, also clearly excited.

“It sounds super fun! But why me?” she asked.

“Well, people like you around here and if you’re the one pushing it, we think they’ll warm up to the idea a lot quicker.” She explained.

“Plus, you love dressing up, you’re a great singer and dancer, and you’re very well-spoken. So, a lot of the girls could look up to you and you could help them!” Ben added.

That was how two weeks later she was sitting behind a table outside the cafeteria with a signup sheet and a very bored Jane next to her.

“Hi Dizzy!” Tilly called out to the small girl trying to sneak into the cafeteria past her.

“Uh, hi” she said, coming to the front of the table. “The Miss Auradon Princess Pageant?” She asked slightly confused.

Tilly smiled up at Dizzy, “Yup! We are holding a pageant! And we would for you to sign up!” she said, putting her best smile forward.

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t really have any talents.” Dizzy said, fidgeting with her hands.

“Oh don’t be silly! I’ve seen you do Evie’s hair before and that is more than talent, that’s a gift!” Tilly told her, sliding the sign-up sheet closer to her.

“I don’t know, I don’t really like to be in front of people like that” Dizzy responded.

Tilly tapped the pen against her lips as she thought, “Well why not be the hair stylist? Not everyone will be as great as you with hair, maybe you could be backstage to help them out? If you’re up for it?”

Dizzy’s eyes lit up excited, “That sounds amazing!” she took the pen that Tilly held out for her and wrote her name down. “Thanks Tilly!”

“Yup! I’ll see you at the meeting later!” she sent Dizzy off with a wave then looked over at Jane excited.

“Tilly, that’s one person.” Jane said then went back to her book.

“One person can start a chain reaction!” she replied optimistically. She then elbowed Jane to get her attention as Carlos and his friend came walking down the hallway.

“Evie! Mal! Are you guys going to sign up for the Pageant?” She asked, holding the pen out towards them. “The winner gets crowned Miss Auradon! And gets to eat Dinner at the palace! Not to mention attend all the galas and parades!” She said, trying to sell it. She could tell Evie was instantly hooked.

“Sounds fun!” Evie said, grabbing the pen eagerly and signing the sheet.

“Mal?” Tilly asked with a sweet smile. She held the pen out towards Mal then, the little fluff of green fur at the end of it annoying her. “It would just be more time to hang out with Ben” she said giving her a sly smile.

Mal grabbed the pen then and wrote down her name quickly, “Miss Auradon has a nice ring to it” Mal said, winking at Tilly then walking into the cafeteria. She then waved as Jane and Carlos walked by and giggled as Jay winked at her before walking off.

Tilly tapped the pen against the table as she played with the ends of her high pony tail. She wore her favorite outfit today as a confidence booster. It was a collard long sleeve white lace dress and her favorite two strap green heels with fur on the strap across her toes that matched her pen.  She wanted this pageant to be a success because Ben and the Fairy God Mother were counting on her to make it one. She was so lost in her train of thought she didn’t see who approached the table.

Gil was staring at her with a wide smile on his face and standing next to him was Uma, her long blue braids in a long braid. “Hi! Did you want to sign up?” She asked, trying to sound excited.

“Miss Auradon?” she said, “Sure! Why not! Might be good way to meet some friends” Uma said, a little lamely.

Tilly frowned at the statement, “It will! A lot of girls are signing up and you’ll make plenty of friends in no time! You already have one already!” Tilly told her with a smile.

“Really?” Uma asked, looking down at Tilly with a sad smile.

“Of course, If you want Jane and I were going to grab food before the meeting tonight, you are more than welcome to come with us!”

“That would be awesome!” Uma replied with a big smile.

“We’ll pick you up at 7!” she then waved them off and giggled when Uma had to drag Gil along with her.

What Tilly didn’t hear was Uma muttering “Piece of cake” under her breath as she left.

She got about 11 more girls to sign up during lunch and adding her meant there was now 15 girls competing.

“Fifteen!” she said as she passed by Ben and Mal as they walked to class as she was on her way to the Fairy God Mother’s office.

“Fifteen! Really! That’s amazing!” Ben said, stopping and turning to watch her walk away.

“Yeah, and your girlfriend’s one of them!” She winked at Mal and then turned and continue her walk.

“Can you grab my notebook?” Tilly called out to her roommate before they left the room. Jane picked it up and then closed the door behind her. She handed the book to Tilly and they walked down the hall towards Uma’s room.

They stopped at Uma’s door and knocked lightly, “Uma? It’s Tilly!” she called out.

The door swung open then revealing Gil and Harry inside as well as Nora, Sleepy’s child, passed out in her bed.  Tilly heard Jane’s breath hitch but paid it no mind, she simply smiled at Uma. “Are you ready?” she asked, and when Uma nodded she smiled towards the boys, “I promise we won’t steal her for too long!” she called out as Uma stepped out.

“Thanks for inviting me!” Uma said, her voice sickly sweet.

“No problemo! You were on the way anyway!” she said, turning down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

“Are you excited for the Pageant?” Jane asked a bit awkwardly. Jane wasn’t all that excited about the new member of their duo, but after Tilly scolded her for not being welcoming she had promised to make an effort. After all, if she hadn’t made an effort with the core four she probably wouldn’t be dating Carlos right now.

“Yeah actually, I think I already have my talent picked out. Well, maybe!” Uma told them, this time she was actually genuine.

“Oh really, what are you thinking about?” Tilly asked, walking down the steps.

“Either sword fighting, or singing!” she replied.

Tilly stopped and looked back at Uma, at first Uma was caught off guard thinking Tilly was going to yell at her but then her features softened, “Why not both? If you can do it, that is! No one’s ever down sword fighting and singing before!”

Uma shrugged, “I guess I could! Would Harry be able to help me? I need a dueling partner.”

Tilly shrugged back, “I don’t see why not!”

They went off and ate dinner then and Tilly found herself actually enjoying Uma’s company. She was a bit rough around the edges, but she was also quite clever and funny. They walked to the meeting in the theater then and while everyone else sat in the first couple of rows, Tilly climbed on stage.

“Hey everyone!” she said, tapping on the microphone and everyone settled down. “Thank you all for coming out and participating! So we not only have 15 wonderful contestants, but we also have a styling crew for us! Dizzy will be helping with hair, Evie will be helping with attire, and Jazzy will be helping with Make-up!” she paused for everyone to clap. “Then we have Carlos, Jay, and Henry helping as Stage crew!” She waited for everyone to clap then too.

“So now, twice a week we will meet for rehearsals and then in about three weeks will be the actual show! We will start with an opening number as a big group, then it will go into talent, then formal wear, and lastly the question round! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask!” she said, pausing to see if anyone raised their hand.

“Yes, Cindy?” she said, pointing to Cinderella’s daughter.

“Can we use other people in the talent portion? Like to dance with us and stuff?” She asked.

“Great question! The answer is yes! If you want to do a duet you are more than welcome to, if you want to do a gymnastics routine with someone you can do that as well. The options are limitless! Just try to keep it under 5 people so we don’t crowd the stage!” she answered with a smile and waited for anyone else with questions. She answered about 10 more before she dismissed everyone to go. Ben was waiting for her backstage.

“This already seems like it’s going to be a success” he said, watching everyone leave.

“I hope so!” she replied, clutching her green notebook to her chest. There was movement backstage, as if something was knocked over and soon Harry Hook stumbled out in front of them. Ben stepped in front of Tilly as if on instinct and Harry pretended not to notice.

“Do you need something?” Ben asked, his tone not the nicest.

“Er, barnacles. Did I miss the meetin?” he asked, looking at Tilly.

Tilly sighed and stepped out from Ben a bit so she could see Harry better, “Unfortunately, was there something you needed?” she asked keeping her tone lighter.

“Was just gonna see if I could help in any way.” He replied.

Tilly smiled, “We could always use a helping hand or hook” she teased. “First rehearsal is on Wednesday, and then another on Monday and that’ll go on for the next two weeks. Try not to be late to them?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it” he said, tipping his hat to her before stalking off.

Ben turned and looked at her with an impressed expression on her face. She laughed at him and playfully pushed him away. “Second Chances, remember?” she teased.

“I think he was flirting with you a bit” Ben replied.

“He was not!” she replied back, slapping his arm with her notebook.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, the rest of the chapters will be up shortly!! Thank you for all the wonderful comments and kudos! I really appreciate it!

Rehearsals came and went quickly and soon it was the week before the pageant. Tilly became surprisingly close to Uma through rehearsals. The daughter of Ursula catching her after and walking back to the dorms together, or grabbing her for lunch during school hours. They talked a lot about Mal, and Ben and life on the Isle and what happened at the end of last year. But mostly about Ben and Tilly was starting to think that maybe Uma had a little crush, but wasn’t going to push her on it.

She also became friendly with Harry too, he proved to be very useful as a stage hand. Jay got distracted by the girls practicing a lot so she had to turn to Harry for the heavy items. He was nice to her and listened to her, and didn’t miss a beat. They started interacting with each other outside of practice as well. First it started with eye contact, Harry would just nod his head as a sign of greeting as they passed each other. Then they would verbally greet each other when they passed, and then one day when she was walking with Uma they all stopped and had a conversation together. Ever since then she considered them friends.

Jane didn’t seem to like it very much, she preached that she was all for second chances and all that but befriending the son of the man who murdered her mother didn’t sit well with her. It didn’t sit well with Tilly either, she never talked about it with Harry yet and she wanted to, there just never seemed to be a good enough time to do so.

Tilly wrapped up rehearsal just at the 7 o’clock mark. They all decided to stay longer today just to make sure they had everything down since Wednesday was supposed to be a dry run before the final Friday performance.

Mal hugged Ben as she walked off stage, happy to see her boyfriend waiting for her. He gave her a half hug back and started to walk away, “Just one sec, I’m gonna go talk to Tilly” he said, walking across stage to get to the blonde.

“Seriously?” Mal said throwing her hands in the air clearly annoyed.

“Trouble in Paradise?” Uma said, sliding up next to Mal. Mal rolled her eyes at her ex best friend.

“No” she replied lamely.

“You know, I’ve been talking with Tilly. She talks about Ben a lot, how close they used to be and how much she loved him. There was a lot there. Even Lonnie said she thought they would get married and become the new King and Queen. I don’t know, looks like love to me” Uma said before waltzing off.

Mal knew she shouldn’t listen to what Uma was saying, since clearly it was just to get a rise out of her. Spook the competition and all that, but it still got to her. Ben had been spending a lot of time with Tilly, and when they were together they just seemed so connected and happy. When they weren’t together Ben seemed to always be talking about her, and if he wasn’t he just didn’t seem all that happy when she was around.

Mal was always the jealous type, even if Evie started to hang around Jay more she would get mad. But this was a whole new level, she started off really liking Tilly to now completely hating her. She was the nicest girl in the entire school, probably the entire realm and yet Mal couldn’t stand her.

“Hook, line and sinker” Uma said, her hands slapping against Gil’s in a high five.

“What did you do?” Harry said from behind his friends. He knew Uma was up to something, but since he walked away from them that day they hadn’t let him in on anything. All he knew was that Uma wanted revenge on Mal and would do anything to get it.

“Oh nothing, just playing a little game with Mal’s heart.” Uma said before cackling and walking away. Across the stage Harry saw Ben and Tilly talking to one another.

“Everything looks so great, I can’t wait for Wednesday!” Ben said while he walked up to Tilly.

“Thanks! I think it’s going to go well, everyone knows their time slots and have been practicing. Dizzy has everyone’s hair plans down and assembled a team and Evie already finished everyone’s dresses for formal so, it’s going great!” she expressed.

“You’re killing it, really you’re doing such an amazing job”

“I kind of really like doing this, planning it all and running it. It’s fun. And I’m becoming friends with people I probably would never have before” she pulled her notebook against her chest and looked up to Ben with a smile.

“Like Harry Hook?” He teased.

“Actually yes, like Harry Hook. And Uma and Gil, Dizzy is a sweetheart and Cindy is a total riot.” She said, not letting his teasing get to her.

“Yeah, yeah whatever you say. But just so you know, Mal’s mother is the evilest villain of all time and I somehow found a way to love her.” He said, nudging her shoulder.

“Ugh, Love? Only adults love and I am no adult. I am a kid, and kids never grow up” she teased him and nodded over in Mal’s direction with her head. “But better get back to Mal, loverboy” she then skipped off to her room.


	5. Chapter 5

On Tuesday morning, she woke up refreshed, She put on her make-up, straightened out her long blonde hair and put on her outfit for the day. A white long sleeved shirt tucked into a pale green button up skirt and over the knee riding boots. She grabbed her books and her trusty notebook and fluffy pen and walked to class. Jane had her free period first so she got to sleep in on Tuesdays.

As Tilly walked the halls she waved and said her hellos to fellow classmates. Things were going well, she had easily gotten back in the swing of things, she had made new friends, and was currently running the Pageant incredibly smoothly. She had every reason to be happy and she absolutely was. So much in fact that she was glowing a little bit.

“You’re dazzling” Harry drawled as he walked up next to her. This was the first time they were talking alone.

“Oh!” she said, caught off guard, “Thank you” her tone was a bit uneasy although she hoped he forgave her.

“No really mate, your dazzling and you’re leaving ittle bits of glitter when ya walk” he told her with a light laugh.

Tilly stopped and looked behind her and saw the faint trail of pixie dust behind her. It was completely harmless when left with no purpose but it still meant she was leaving a wake of ‘dirt’ for the janitors to clean up later. “Oops, I’m having a really good day” she told him, giving him a sheepish smile.

“Well don’t let me ruin it for ya” Harry said, tipping his hat and starting to walk away.

“You don’t have to leave!” She called out before he could walk away from ear shot. “Actually, I kind of wanted to talk”

“To talk?” he asked, slipping his hat off and holding it in his hands.

“Well we never really sat down and talked one on one together, and I would like to. If you don’t want to, I understand. It’s just there’s a lot…going on here” she said pointing between the two of them. “Well I guess there was a lot going on” she was starting to lose her confidence.

“No, we can talk. Yeah, that would be good” he replied. She then led them outside to one of the benches under the tree. She thanked the heavens it was a nice day out.

They sat in silence for a moment before they both talked at once. “I don’t blame you” Tilly said as Harry said “I’m sorry”. They laughed and then Harry let her talk first.

“I just wanted to say that I don’t blame you. And that I’m sorry for being so distant when you first came, it just took me a bit to see that you weren’t who I thought you were going to be. When you first arrived, I was unprepared and caught off guard and to think I had to share a space with you was scary and to be honest I was really hurt. But then I met you and you were nice, and caring, and you didn’t act as if I was anything other than just another person. I really appreciated that, and I still do.” She said, giving a deep breath now that all of that was off her chest.

“I don’t blame you for running off when we first came, and I don’t blame you for being distant. If the roles were switched I don’t think I would have been as accepting as you were. Living on the Isle is different, you grow up only knowing one thing and that’s that your only purpose is to be greater than your parents. You need to be more evil, crueler, more ruthless than they were. And for a time I wanted to be, I tried to be, but then Mal came back and then Ben came and showed me what it was like to be good, they all did. And then they invited us here and I was really excited and happy because it meant that I could get out of my dad’s shadow. I could stop listening to him berate me every day about how I needed to get out of the Isle, return to Neverland and finish what he started. But that was never my dream, I never wanted that. Do I want to sail the ocean for a while and explore, definitely? Do I want to fight a group of boys and a fairy for the rest of my life, hell no? I’m sorry for what my father did, I can’t imagine what you have gone through since then. If I could change what he did, I would have. I also want to thank you for being so accepting. I didn’t know you were going to be here, in fact I didn’t even know you existed, but you didn’t have to be nice to me and you didn’t have to accept me and you did. So thank you, because I really do appreciate that.”

At some point, Tilly started to cry; she couldn’t really help it, It was all just a bit much for her. She sniffled and smiled at Harry, “Oh gosh, look at me being all lame and emotional” she said teasing herself to lighten the mood.

“It’s ight” he said, reaching up and wiping away a tear with his thumb.

“It’s just nice to hear you say it, that you’re sorry. You don’t have to be, because it was never your fault but to hear that you are, as selfish as it sounds, just means a lot to me. I miss her every day, I miss someone who I barely even knew. But I love her because she’s my mom, ya know.” Harry nodded at her statement, understanding her.

Tilly then wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, it took him a minute but soon Harry wrapped his arms around Tilly’s waist and hugged her back.

Tilly then wiped her tears away and smiled, “Walk me to class?” She asked standing up and hugging her books to her chest. Harry nodded and stood up holding out his hand and letting her loop her arm around it.  They walked to class talking about random little things and enjoying each other’s company. People stared but soon got over it, and they didn’t even notice.

She was sitting at lunch with Jane when Ben and Mal and the rest of the core four came and sat down at her table.

“Rumor has it you are Harry are a couple” Ben said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“We are not a couple!” She said, throwing a piece of popcorn at him, “we are simply friends. Friends who may or may not have talked about our parent’s history.” She added on, not looking up from her book on purpose.

“What!” Ben said, snatching her book away from her to get her attention. Next to him Mal aggressively stabbed her food with her fork.

“We talked about it and…we’re good now. Really good” she said, giving him a smile.

“Til” Ben started, not noticing Mal’s plastic fork snapping next to him, “That’s amazing. I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks, I’m pretty happy myself. It’s just a weight that’s been lifted. I feel a lot better.” She told him before popping popcorn into her mouth. She turned to Mal who was glaring at her. “Are you okay Mal? Please don’t tell me you’re getting sick, if one goes down the whole production goes down”

“I’m fine” Mal deadpanned.

“Oh” Tilly said, shooting Ben a worried look. “Well, as much as I would love to sit and chat, I told Uma I would help her go over her routine for Friday. I’ll see you all at rehearsal Tomorrow?” When they all nodded, and said her goodbyes she skipped out of the cafeteria.

She walked into the theater to find Uma and Gil whispering on the stage together.

“Hey guys!” She called out as she walked down the aisle towards the steps.

They both swung around to greet her with large smiles. “Tilly!” Uma said meeting her at the top of the steps and looping her arm through Tilly’s. “I was starting to get really stressed over my performance. I’ve never performed like this in front of all these people” Uma said, putting on her best scared face.

“Aw Uma, I promise it’s not as scary as you think. Everyone in the audience and everyone backstage is rooting for you. We all want you to do your best and succeed, you’ve got an amazing voice and you’re swordsmanship is crazy good as well. You got this.” She gave Uma’s hand a tight squeeze.

“Thanks Tilly” Uma said, pulling away to grab her sword. She and Gil practiced for a bit and Tilly gave her pointers to make it look more regal and showy. After they sat on the edge of the stage, letting their feet dangle. Gil had to go to class so they were waiting for Harry to come.

“I talked to Harry” Tilly said quietly as if it was some secret.

Uma turned and looked at Tilly surprised, “You did?” she asked.

“Yeah, we just talked about our parents and how we felt. I said I didn’t blame him for what happened, but it was kind of hard not to. So I apologized and so did he. It…It was nice. He’s such a nice guy, and I can just tell her really cared about me knowing that he didn’t agree with his father’s actions. I don’t know, it meant a lot to me. I feel like there is this huge weight off my chest now, like I don’t have to feel guilty talking to him and hanging out with him.”

Uma smiled, a genuine smile at that. She was still Harry’s friend and she was glad that he had gotten the chance to talk to her. She knew it was weighing on him too.  “Do you like hanging out with him?” Uma asked quietly again.

Tilly laughed softly, she then bit her lower lip and looked at her friend, “Maybe?” she could feel her cheeks turning pink.

Uma laughed a bit and nudged Tilly with her shoulder, “He’s a good kid, a lot more than he leads on. I think If things were different he would never have been an Isle kid. Circumstances made him who he had to be, not who he wanted to be. But now that’s he is here, I think he’s becoming who he wants.” Uma shocked herself at how nice and caring she was being, sure Harry was her friend but she never really talked about him like that. She felt an odd feeling in her stomach but pushed it away immediately.

“But, I heard even better news.” Uma said, wiggling her eyebrows, “I hear Ben and Mal are on the rocks”

Tilly frowned, “That’s not good news, do you know why?”

“Because he still loves you!” Uma tone made it seem like it was the obvious answer.

Tilly shook her head, “No, no he doesn’t. We are just friends, incredible close good friends but the feelings stop there. He would…he would tell me if he felt anything more.” She defended.

“Would he though? Knowing Mal’s history I’m not sure she would be an easy one to break it off with.” Uma simply shrugged. “But, if you say so! I mean, I could see it. He spends a lot of time with you.” Uma pushed away from the edge and stood up, walking off towards backstage.

Tilly sat there for a little thinking about the information she was just given, “But, we’re just friends. Right?”


	6. Chapter 6

Tilly avoided everyone the next day trying to stay focused on the dry-run of the pageant tonight. She ran from class to her room to the theater and barely spoke a word unless necessary.

Finally, it was time to do the dry run and everyone seemed excited and prepared.

She called all the girls out on stage to go through the opening number, an edited version of ‘Honor To Us All.’ Once that was finished she rushed backstage to get everything moving quickly. Ben and Chad were hosting and they went out to kill some time and introduce themselves.

All the act went smoothly, mostly because they didn’t perform their full acts just the first minute of each. And at the end she called everyone out on the stage again.

“Okay guys! Next time we’re all going to be here it’s going to be the real deal!” she clapped excitedly. “I want to thank everyone for making this such a wonderful time and for all being incredibly amazing people. We are going to kill it on Friday night, and let the best girl win!” she gave them her best smile and dismissed them.

She was going some last-minute details with Dizzy as everyone left when suddenly she was being lifted from behind and spun around. She screeched with joy until she was finally put down to reveal Ben standing in front of her with a smile.

“Til, this is…I can’t even put it into words. You put this all together by yourself and you’re just amazing. I can’t get over how amazing you are.” Ben said, looking down into her eyes.

Tilly smiled, “I feel like the only thing I say to you anymore is Thank you” she teased.

“Well you deserve every compliment given” he smiled back.

Tilly looked around and found the whole theater empty, only the two of them occupying the stage. Tilly took in a breath, “Where’s Mal?” she asked cautiously.

“Oh, her and Evie had some last-minute adjustments or something” He said shaking it off. Tilly nodded slowly. “So you’re doing Once Upon a Dream for your talent?” He asked.

“Yeah, It’s just such a pretty song. I didn’t know what else to do.” She told him with a shrug.

“Really, I would have thought you would have done Love is an Open Door. You used to make me sing that with you all the time” Ben said exaggerating being annoyed. Tilly laughed and pushed him away playfully.

“Well I wasn’t going to ask you to sing that with me!” she defended.

Ben laughed and walked backstage and soon she heard the sound of a phone connecting to the sound system.  Soon the first chords of the song were playing and Tilly broke out in a laugh.

“Okay, Can I just say something Crazy?” Tilly sang spoke.

“I love Crazy!” Ben replied.

“All my life has been a series of doors in my face, and then suddenly I bump into you”

“I was thinking the same thing! Cause like, I’ve been searching my whole life to find my own place and maybe it’s the party talking or the chocolate fondue”

Tilly laughed and they continue to sing their song together, twirling and singing around the stage having a blast. They added in their little choreography that they made up way back when.

“Can I say something crazy?” Ben asked in the song and Tilly nodded enthusiastically. “Will you marry me?” he got down on one knee and everything.

“Can I say something even crazier? Yes!” she sang as the song ended. They both realized the situation and sobered up a bit, but Tilly still helped Ben get back up. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” She asked, picking up her notebook and walking out backwards. Once he nodded in response she turned and walked out properly.

They both didn’t know that Mal and Harry were hiding backstage watching them sing together. Mal stormed off her eyes growing green with more than just envy. Harry just walked away silently.


	7. Chapter 7

Thursday and Friday passed with a blur and suddenly the doors to the theater were about to open and let in all of Auradon. Tilly had already given her pep talk and it was just the limbo period of everyone taking their seats so they could start the show.

Mal walked over to Doug who was working the sound and gave him her ipod and told him which song to play. “It’s number 14. Once Upon a Dream” she told him while giving him a little wink. He nodded and crossed out her old selection and wrote in the new one.

Uma and Gil were huddled backstage leafing through torn out pages from Mal’s spellbook. “Ah, here it is!” Uma said happily. Gil went over to talk to Ben, distracting him from Uma standing behind him reciting the spell with her hand on her seashell necklace. When Ben got a confused look on his face and blinked a few times, Gil knew the spell had worked and they both scattered off.

The Opening number went great, everyone was cheering and hollering. Then Ben and Chad went out and introduced the Judges. His mother, The Fairy God Mother, Hercules, and Jasmine. Then it was time to start the talent portion. Tilly stood on the edge of the backstage and helped send out the girls once each talent was done. She soon stood next to Uma and Harry, she smiled at both of them and wished them luck. Uma gave her a wicked smile which Tilly pushed off as the rush of competition, but Harry barely looked at her. She shook it off and sent them out on stage.

Their sword fighting duet was a hit, they sounded and looked amazing. Tilly knew that Uma would definitely be in the top three and she was so proud of her new friend. Next up was Mal, Evie had designed her a special outfit and she looked gorgeous.

“You look great” Tilly said, giving her a soft smile.

“Thanks” Mal deadpanned.

“Break a leg!” She said, once Uma and Harry exited on the other side of the stage.

“I intend to” Mal said before sauntering off on stage. Suddenly the first chords of Tilly’s song started playing and instead of looking towards the crowd Mal looked directly at Tilly as she sang the first lyric.

“That’s my song” Tilly whispered in shock. Tears already threatened to slide down her face. She didn’t understand why Mal would do this to her. She thought they were friends. Suddenly Ben, Uma and Harry were next to her asking her what was going on.

“I-I don’t know. That…I was supposed to sing that. What am I going to do?” She said, turning to look at her friends.

“We can sing together” Ben said quickly. “We can do Love is an Open Door” he said, stepping closer and grabbing her hands.

Uma, behind Ben, smirked at her plan working. “Yeah, we all know you guys sing that so well” Harry sniped. Tilly looked at him confused but then shook her head at Ben.

“I don’t think that’s right. It doesn’t feel right.” She told him. “What if, what if I did ‘I see the Light?” she asked her friends.

“We can do that too!” Ben said excitedly, grabbing her hands again. Tilly pulled them away and turned towards Harry.

“Would you…would you be able to sing it with me?” she asked quietly.

Harry looked up at her surprised, a small smile forming on his lips. “For you? Anything” he responded.

“With him?” Ben asked, his tone angry. “What about us, you know we can sing that, we have before!” Ben argued.

“Ben, Mal is already mad at me for god knows what, I’m not going to make her even more mad by doing a duet with her boyfriend!” she spit out.

“Ex-boyfriend” he replied quickly.

Tilly looked at him confused but shook her head, “Harry we are up after Lonnie” she told him as Lonnie pushed past them to get on stage since Mal exited already. “Are you ready?” she asked and he nodded. Shrugging off his jacket and tucking in his shirt. Tilly passed the clipboard and notebook to Uma and ran backstage to get changed.


	8. Chapter 8

She came back just in time for Lonnie to finish her act and bow for the crowd. The deal was that Tilly would go out alone and when Harry’s part came he would come out on stage and join her.

Chad presented her and Tilly walked out to the center of the stage and sat on the stool behind the microphone. On the other side of the backstage Tilly saw Ben and Mal talking, and Harry standing next to them giving her a thumbs up.

“All those days, watching from the windows, all those years outside looking in.” she started singing, forgetting everything around her and just focusing on the song and letting it fill her up.

“All at once, everything is different, now that I see you” she sang as she looked off stage towards Harry knowing it was his time to come in. Except now Mal was storming off and Ben and Harry seemed to be in a predicament. Suddenly Ben grabbed the microphone and shoved Harry back and walked out on stage singing,

“All those days, chasing down a daydream, all those years living in a blur, all that time never truly seeing things the way they were." Ben sang to her, crossing the stage and holding his hand out to her. In a panic, she let him finish his part while trying to see if Harry was okay over his shoulder.

“And at last I see the light, and it’s like the fog has lifted, and at last I see the light, and it’s like the sky is new” they sang in unison.

They kept singing together, facing one another holding the hand that wasn’t holding a microphone and all Tilly could feel was upset. She didn’t want Ben to be out here, she wanted it to be Harry.

“All at once everything is different, now that I see you” they sang out, “Now that I see you” they finished softly. But Tilly wasn’t looking at Ben, instead her eyes met with Harry who was simply glaring at Ben.

“Tilly Bell everyone!” Ben shouted out, his arm wrapping around Tilly’s shoulders. He then dipped her down and kissed her, she instantly put her hands on his chest and tried to push him away. He brought her back up and the crowd went wild, everyone clearly happy to see them back together.  A single tear rolled down Tilly’s cheek as she watched Harry stomp off and out of her sight.

Tilly pushed herself off of Ben and walked backstage, despite everything that was happening she still had a show to put on. Thankfully when she walked back she saw Mal was changed into her formal wear.

Tilly fought off tears as she slipped into her dress. It was a deep V neck white gown that synched at her chest bone and pooled down and the bottom looked like it was dipped into green dye and subtly ombreyed up the skirt. Her hair was long and straightened with a middle part and she worked a simple gold choker. She slipped on her heels and then ran to join the rest of the girls as they started walking out on stage.

As she walked out on stage Ben sent her a wink and picked the first question out of the bowl. They went around to each girl and asked her a randomly selected question.

Uma got, “If you got to change one thing about Auradon, what would it be and why?” to which she answered “I would let more kids come here from the Isle, I have learned so much since being here and I truly think I have changed for the good. I just think it would be fair for other kids to have the same opportunity”

Mal got, “What was is something you are most proud of” to which she responded, “How I’ve learned to stay true to myself, because being me is the best thing I can be.”

Evie got, “What is your favorite hobby” to which she said, “I love designing and creating clothes, it’s my passion!”

And then Tilly got, “What’s the best piece of advice you got from your parent(s)”. She felt the crowd go completely silent and she just took a deep breath. “I never really got to know my mother, but I’ve learned a lot about her through other people. They say people die twice, first when they are buried in the ground, and the second is when your name is spoken for the last time. I don’t think my mom will ever die twice because people still talk about her to this day. They talk about her and tell me how great she was, how nice, how helpful, how caring and passionate. And that’s the best lesson she ever taught me. I only hope that when my time comes people will still be talking about me twenty years later for all the good things I did and was.”

The crowd erupted into clapping and hollering, and then the judges took their time to deliberate.

Chad held the tiara in his hands as Ben held up the envelope. “Our third runner up is…” he paused for dramatic effect. “Mal!”

“Our second runner up is…Uma!” the crowd cheered once more.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you our Miss Auradon 2017 Miss Tilly Bell!” Ben screamed and clapped for her as she walked up and Chad placed the tiara on her head. Then a sash was brought up with flowers and she was given those too. Ben wrapped his arm around her shoulder again but this time she turned her face to the side so he would kiss her cheek instead.

She put on her best fake smile and waved, thanked everyone for coming out, and then smiled and took pictures with all the other contestants. Finally it was all over and she could finally figure out what the hell was going on.


	9. Chapter 9

As she walked back stage she found Ben and Uma waiting for her.

“Congratulations! You got the crown and Ben! Everything you ever wanted!” Uma told her with a sly smile.

Tilly shook her head, “I don’t understand what is going on, but thank you.” She said, pulling Ben out to the back hallway by the Theater.

“What is wrong with you?” She asked her hands going to her hips as she looked at him firmly.

“Nothing is wrong with me, I finally figured out what I should have known all along. We are perfect for each other, We were made for each other Til” Ben said, taking a step closer.

“No, no we aren’t.  You and Mal were made for each other, we are better as friends. We were doing fine as friends” She pushed back.

“But I love you!” Ben said, stepping closer again wrapping his arms around her. “And I know you love me to. Uma told me you loved me but you were just scared of Mal”

Tilly looked at him as if she was just slapped across the face but before she could argue someone interrupted them.

“As she should be” Mal said, eyes glowing green.

Tilly tried to push away from Ben but he just held her tighter to protect her, “Mal, Mal it’s not what you think it is”

“Oh it’s exactly what I think it is. You’ve been trying to steal him since the day you got him. Playing nice and acting like we were friends but you were plotting behind my back the whole time!” Mal was getting angrier by the second. “And then you go and pull this stunt and are now trying to act like you didn’t want this all along! Pathetic.”

“No, Mal you don’t understand!” Tilly tried to express to Mal

“You’re right she doesn’t understand, she doesn’t understand that this, us, is real love. What I have with her is just…nothing.” Ben spit out. Tilly could see that it hurt Mal even though she wasn’t showing it.

Tilly finally pushed off Ben hard enough that he let go, “Mal, please listen to me. I don’t want this, I never wanted this. I don’t know what’s going on.” She started to cry at how crazy and overwhelming this situation was. “We are friends, Ben and I are just friends, I know how happy you guys are and I would never mess that up even if I did have feelings for Ben, but I don’t. I don’t want this. I-I want Harry.” She said the last part quietly, finally letting it break her all down.

“Harry! You want Harry! Over me!” Ben raged out, his breath getting uneven and letting out a brutal growl. “I’ll skin him alive!” he shouted.

Mal lost all the anger in her face, “Oh no” she said quietly. “Ben wouldn’t get mad at you picking someone else, Ben doesn’t do anger he finds a solution to everything. You don’t love him but clearly he’s in love with you, obsessive.” Mal shook her head, disappointed she didn’t realize this earlier. “This has Uma all over it.”

Suddenly Ben raged out even more, growling out and starting to stalk down the hallway screaming Harry’s name. Mal grabbed Tilly’s arm before she could run off after him, “You get Ben and I’ll deal with Uma” She nodded than ran off following Ben.

“Ben! Please! Please just stop!” She called out after him.

Ben whipped his head around, his eyes almost glowing red. “If I can’t have you, no one will!” he growled out and shoved open the doors to the courtyard. “Harry Hook!” Ben screamed and the man himself turned and looked at a seething Ben and a tear stained Tilly standing on the patio.

“Bloody Hell” he said, getting up prepared to fight. Ben jumped down from the Patio and stalked over to Harry.

“She’s mine” he growled

“That’s ight with me Mate” Harry replied, holding up his sword and Ben squared up.

Tilly finally got down to where they were and ran in between them panting and crying. “Please stop, please!” she begged as she looked up at Ben.

“If I can’t have you Tilly, than neither can he or anyone else!” he spit out.

“You don’t mean that, you don’t even love me. This is all just Uma, she’s in your head. Think about it, why would you want to leave Mal? You love her!”

“Uma did this?” Harry asked and Tilly turned around to nod at him but quickly shifted her gaze back to Ben. “Right then” Harry said, placing his hands on both of Tillys shoulders and moving her out of the way. He then squared up right to Ben.

“Harry! No!” Tilly shouted as Harry used the butt of his sword and hit it against Ben’s forehead. He immediately dropped to the ground knocked out.

“Oh my god, oh my god! Harry!” She called out as she crouched down next to Ben trying to wake him up.

“Relax princess, Uma’s not that great at spellcasting, it’s quite easy to get people out of them. Just takes a good knock to the head.” He said, leaning over the slain king.

Tilly lightly tapped Ben’s cheek softly whispering his name to get him to wake up. Her hair fell over her shoulder creating a curtain of hair around them. He blinked a little bit and pushed himself up with his hands.

“Tilly? You’re crying. What’s wrong” he asked looking around and seeing Harry. “Did he do something to you?” Ben asked worried.

Tilly shook her head and smiled through her tears, just glad that he was awake.

“Why are we outside?” Ben asked and relief flooded over both her and Harry.

“Uma cursed you again” she told him quietly. Suddenly Mal ran out from the doors and looked down on them.

“Mal!” Ben called happy to see her. Tilly looked up at Mal and nodded to tell her that everything was okay now. Ben pushed himself up and rushed to meet her, leaving Harry and Tilly alone.

Tilly stood up then and before Harry could say anything she turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. Harry waited for a bit and then dropped his sword before wrapping his arms around her waist.

She pulled away, looking up at Harry as she did so. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to sing with you, but I didn’t want to cause a scene with Ben. I was confused and caught off guard.” She started to explain but Harry’s finger came to rest on her lips.

“Shush love, there is a reason Ben came out here, and I think I know why.” He said, giving her that killer smirk.  His finger slid down and his thumb ghosted over her lips as he held her chin, then he slowly leaned down and pressed his lips to her in a soft kiss. She responded immediately, her hands coming to rest on his chest lightly. It was short but sweet and everything Tilly could have imagined it could be.

“Told you he liked you!” Ben called from behind him, Tilly shot him a look but eventually let herself fall into Harry’s arms.

Uma and Gil were sent back to the island and two more replacements were set to start next semester. Harry chose the next replacements knowing they were the ones who needed it most. Tilly and Harry started dating although their relationship wasn’t met with happiness. Word spread to Neverland and Peter asked that she keep him out and that she wasn’t allowed to return until she broke it off with him. It hurt her, but she knew her true home was in Auradon and with Harry. One day she hoped to bring Harry to their true home again, but understood it might not be any time soon.

For now, she was completely happy being in love with Harry Hook.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so so so much for reading! I'm working on another story soon, maybe a prequel to Ben and Tilly before she left Auradon? Let me know if you have any ideas in the comments!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you guys think, I'm not too proud of it but I threw it together and thought it was cute!


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